Selection from lists with constraints?

  • ccuny

    (@ccuny)


    3 years ago

    Hello all,

    I am trying to find a solution for my wife who has two classes of around 30 students. Each student has to choose a number (about 3, but let’s make that number a variable) of assignment topics from a list of 20 or so. As it is not acceptable for all students to pick the same topics, there needs to be a limit set for the number of students selecting aany particular topic. SO I would like to find a way for students to see what topics are still open,and what topics are all taken, in real time. Students will make their choice on a first come first served basis.

    You can guess from the above I don’t have a clue how to implement this. I was thinking of trying to find a plugin that may present a framework for doing this. Since what I am trying to achieve is not unlike appointment booking, in that there are only so many time slots available, taken on a first come first served basis, with immediate visual feedback could be adapted. But having thought about a while, it seems unlikely.

    My description may be too vague or too specific for anyone to relate, but if anyone can visualize what I am trying to achieve and suggest some plugin or method that would provide some semblance of a solution, I’m all ears. I am happy to get a commercial plugin and I can also work with Elementor add-ons. I would consider any other suggestion: right now, I’m clueless.

    Anyway, please let me know if you have any ideas or any thoughts and suggestions.

    Thank you very much.

    Chris

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    I’m more positive than you of the likelihood of adapting a booking plugin. Couldn’t each day become a topic to sign up for, blocking out X hours to denote how many spaces are available? Students could book a 1 hour block each until all available blocks are taken. Depending on the plugin, there may be a way to query for any student’s bookings to see how many topics they’ve signed up for. The main challenge would be getting the calendar dates to display as topics instead. That may require some custom coding. Worst comes to worst, create a translation table, i.e. Nov 1 is for topic “Food”, etc.

    Or maybe an e-commerce plugin? Each topic is a product, of which there are X in inventory. Every product is $10 and every student has $30 with which to purchase topics. If a topic is sold out, they’ll simply need to buy something else. The resulting orders make it easy to see what each student bought. There’s typically a payment test mode where you can buy things without actually paying with real money. The product image and description creatively applied to available topics could make the entire sign up process kind of fun. Who doesn’t like to buy things? ??

    Thread Starter ccuny

    (@ccuny)

    Thank you so much for taking the time to give me some pointers and clues. I am a WP wimp but I have used Yellow Pencil to edit stuff when I did not know how to do the CSS (and where to put it) and I think Using a booking plugin and changing the labels is a great idea.

    Now, why didn’t I think of that?

    I might try an e-commerece plugin too, though I have never used one before: this might help getting a bit more knowledgeable too.

    Many many thanks.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
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